Wakulla County Airport

The airport entrance is located on Bay Drive off of Surf Road in Ochlockonee Bay, the entire airport property is 2,800 feet long by 200 feet wide and is adjacent to Tarpine, a fly-in/live-in community with through-the-fence operations. The airport has been in operation for 46 years. The goal of the airport is to provide a safe, economical, and user-friendly airport, approved by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for the general public. The Wakulla County Airport is located three miles south of Panacea in the Ochlocknee Bay community. The airport was donated to Wakulla County by Mr. Fenton Jones in the late 60s under the condition that the property remains as a public airport. In 1964,Wakulla County,Florida, opened its first airport, known as Wakulla County Airport. It has only one grass runway. This site has met the county’s needs from its founding until the present. With the addition of 20 private T-hangars, the needs of this airport will be met well into year 2020. The airport is located on 15 acres. Additional acreage adjacent to the airport is being sought. The Wakulla County Airport has one grass runway, Runway 18/36, which is 2,590 feet long by 70 feet wide and is in good condition. The airport serves a fly-in/live-in community. There are no taxiways, auto parking spaces, or ramp space. There are 10 grass tie downs.

AIRPORT ORGANIZATION/OPERATING STRUCTUREThe Wakulla County Airport is overseen by the County Administrator. The FY 10/11 Budget eliminated the part-time position of Airport Manager however; the current Airport Manager is a volunteer position. A minimal operating budget continues to be funded.

AIRPORT ROLEIn its current role, the airport focuses primarily on serving general aviation aircraft. It presently supports flight training, sport/recreational flying, and visiting aircraft. Some business flights use the airport, but are a small percentage of the overall operations. The airport does not provide fuel facilities and could potentially attract more recreational flights if they were provided.

The airport’s future role is limited by lack of local funding, manmade factors, and environmental factors. The airport does not report any community factors that will limit its future system role of growth. The airport sees itself experiencing some growth in the future.

The airport’s vision for its future is to provide an airport for based flight schools and recreational flying. Flight training is a component of this airport’s general aviation activity. Roughly 10 percent of the airport’s annual operations are related to flight training. There are no businesses on the airport. Corporate and business users are responsible for about 10 percent of the annual operations. There are no corporate based aircraft on the airfield at this time. The airport also attracts transient or visiting aircraft, with approximately 20 percent of the airport’s business originating from transient users. The airport does not have any based military aircraft and does not accommodate any military operations.